.hack//Sign
Back to Reviews Citation: .hack//Sign. TV Tokyo. 4 April through 25 Sept. 2002. JOTX-(D)TV, Tokyo. Television. Overview: .hack//Sign (pronounced "dot-hack-sign") is a Japense anime show that is a part of the ''.hack ''franchise. It is the first series in the multi-media franchise, released simultaneously with the Playstation 2 video game .hack//Infection, it is one of the first four storylines of the franchise. The .hack franchise could be considered a perfect example of transmedia storytelling The series takes place in The World, an online MMORPG (mass-multiplayer online role playing game), a virtual reality world with several servers, cities, and "areas." Each server has its own city where players are transported to a seemingly endless amount of areas that contain dungeons, monsters, treasure, and other players. Each player uses a virtual reality headset and gamepad. The series begins with the main character, Tsukasa, who has amnesia and does not remember who he is or how he got there. Late, he realizes that he is unable to log out of The World and is not sitting at a computer terminal. Tsukasa encounters a number of various characters who all use The World differently, but come together to help solve Tsukasa's strange predicament. Relation to Cybercultures: The series covers several themes that relate to Cybercultures. One such thematic issue explores how integrated the virtual world can be with the virtual reality. In the case of Tsukasa, his physical self has been completely separated, while his mental and virtual selves have merged into one. His mental consciousness literally becomes virtual. Throughout the series, some characters become physically hurt in the real world after their avatars are killed in The World. Additionally, The World itself is presented as living as The World gives birth to a character named Aura. The line between these two realms becomes almost completely blurred, exposing a very large gray area, suggesting that The World is one in the same as the virtual world. Early on in the series, a central theme revolves around how the characters establish an identity and what purpose they give The World. In a conversation with BT, Bear explains why she must be careful of other characters' motives: "Since the world doesn't specify a goal, each player is free to choose how they play. There will always be those who abuse the system for personal gains" (ep. 2: "Guardian"). Information about each character's real life and their motives are revealed throughout the series. For example, viewers find out that Bear is an old man, Sora is a 10-year-old who simply enjoys killing other players' avatar, and Tsukasa is actually a girl. With this open ended aspect of The World, characters have widely varying levels of participation. Often times, this idea overlaps with the theme of anxiety and excapism. Many of the characters choose to participate in The World to compensate for some aspect of their lives in the real world, whether it would be socially, mentally, or physically. By escaping reality and exploring the potentials of cyberspace and the Internet, the main characters become increasingly withdrawn from their real lives. Often times, characters will mention the need to sleep, their messy apartment, or that they missed work to log in to The World. Another theme concerns how social order should be structured in cyberspace. There are both the Crimson Knights who wish to act as a volunteer police force as well as several hackers and main characters who wish to break down social structures and play in a place without rules or interference from other players. The series does not necessarily favor one side or the other, as none of the characters are completely in the right or wrong. However, both types of characters take part in cyberactivism to advance their political motives inside The World. External Links: *Wikipedia article *Wikia article *IMBD article